in reply to Re^2: Perl Elitist Code vs Functional Code
in thread Perl Elitist Code vs Functional Code
Most of us have maintained plenty of “quick hacks” that the (long gone ...) original designers never imagined would become a full-fledged script. Or, likewise, dozens of quick-hacks that became in the aggregate a completely-unmaintainable full fledged system.
And that is why, if you were hoping for a flame-war, you are not too likely to be rewarded with one. People around here understand implicitly what the consequences of hack-code are, because they have had to deal with it for a very long time. This is why they work as they do. Even if you intentionally put in words like “functional vs. elitist,” you simply are not going to see this group dividing itself into two camps and bickering.
Early in my career, I tried to fix the plumbing in my house. The corroded, galvanized fitting that my predecessor had attached to a copper piping system broke off in my hands. “OMG!!” I thought to myself, “I’m screwed!!” But the home improvement gods were smiling that day. The first guy who I called showed up immediately, fixed the problem in less than ten minutes, gratuitously checked the piping in the rest of the house, charged me $50 and left a stack of business cards. (I vividly remember his assistant innocently asking, “shall I turn the water on now to check for leaks?” With a calm but withering stare, he replied, “My work does not leak.” The assistant hurriedly found something else to do.) I told that story and passed out business cards. In fact, I am still telling that story right now. What I desperately wanted, and could not do for myself, is what he very-professionally did. What I feared most was to him unthinkable. He could have charged me any price he named, and I would have paid it and never forgotten it. Well, I did pay the price he named, and I have never forgotten it.
Ever since, and with every client we’ve ever had or will have, I have simply tried to copy the ways of that wise plumber.